Christmas tree presentation turns to politics

Congressman Mark Meadows got a special Christmas delivery Monday, one that gave him the opportunity to talk farming, flooding and the Farm Bill.

By Nathaniel AxtellTimes-News Staff Writer

Congressman Mark Meadows got a special Christmas delivery Monday, one that gave him the opportunity to talk farming, flooding and the Farm Bill.Rodney Buchanan, a Mitchell County tree grower and president of the N.C. Christmas Tree Association, and its executive director, Jennifer Greene, drove down from Bakersville to present Meadows with a 6-foot-tall Fraser fir for his local congressional office.The two industry leaders thanked Meadows for his support of farmers in the 11th District, and the congressman returned the favor by presenting Buchanan and Greene with two flags that had flown over the U.S. Capitol.“For them to bring this tree down here touched me, because it reflects the hours we’ve spent reaching out to them trying to address their issues,” Meadows said.This summer, Meadows toured farms throughout his district and met with growers dealing with the impacts of flooding.Buchanan said the Fraser fir he brought came from a field where 500 to 750 trees of the same size drowned during this summer’s deluge, adding that labor shortages are “our biggest challenge right now.”On Monday, Meadows said he was working the phones trying to get the chairman of the House Agriculture Committee “to make sure that some of the programs that our farmers rely on get put back in the Farm Bill.” He said conferees have set a goal of having a 2013 Farm Bill ready for a vote by Dec. 13.Meadows said he’s pushing for the bill to reinstate the Supplemental Revenue Assistance Payments program and to include a guest worker program to help address ongoing labor shortages.The SURE program was included in the 2008 Farm Bill as a form of “permanent” disaster aid program, but its funding expired in 2011. The program supplements growers’ crop insurance contracts, which only cover a portion of yield during times of natural disaster.“So we’re trying to make sure that we have that in (the bill) and I’m optimistic we’ll be able to do that,” Meadows said. “And honestly, guest workers are really something that we need to address for many of the jobs that, quite frankly, we don’t have enough people to do, whether it’s cutting Christmas trees or picking apples. It’s still a huge need and when you have a bumper crop, it’s even worse.”Like this year’s apple crop, North Carolina’s 2013 Christmas tree production “promises to be one of the best in recent years,” according to the N.C. Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. Greene said cash receipts for N.C. Christmas trees were $85 million last year, ranking the state second in the U.S.Buchanan said Christmas trees support many small family farmers in WNC, with economic impacts that trickle down beyond the fields filled with Fraser firs.“I’d hate to take a guess at how many people are working Christmas trees right now,” he said. “It would be unreal, between cutting, baling, loading crews, even wreath-making and garland, all the way through truck drivers. We have a restaurant and Saturday, they had a special dinner just for the tree crews to show their appreciation for (them) eating lunch there every day. So it goes all the way down to the gas stations.”From Christmas trees to apples, Meadows said the 11th District’s farming community “represents not only a great part of our economy but an integral part of who we are as North Carolinians. I feel better every time I’m out getting a little bit of mud on my shoes.”Reach Axtell at 828-694-7860 or than.axtell@blueridgenow.com.

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